AFTER THE CEREMONY ON THE BEACH guests enjoyed cocktails on the terraces overlooking the blue sea, sipping on margaritas, cervezas and champagne. The hotel’s talented culinary team served one delicious hors d’oeuvres after another! Knowing that the bride’s family own a large restaurant company headquartered in Chicago, the famous and well-loved Lettuce Entertain You, it was extremely important to wow the guests with every bite! From there, guests were invited to the terraces for the dinner dance celebration.

THE OVERALL EVENT DESIGN CONCEPT for the wedding was to encapsulate the warmth and elegance of the couple and their families. Soft, natural tones of taupe, ivory, and white blending with raw wood, weathered white, organic floral arrangements with full, lush blooms, and, of course, tons of glowing candles everywhere! Candlelight was an extremely important element for the bride and was incorporated into every setting created for the celebration, beginning with the ceremony on the beach and continuing through to the dinner space.

We designed the dinner environment on the tiered terraces overlooking the dance floor, mixing long dark wood and weathered white dinner tables as the canvas. Down the length of each table we placed natural linen runners, low lush floral arrangements, and candles. Tons and tons of candles! Over many of the tables we suspended floral chandeliers and glass candle orbs for a magical, vertical appeal. The same cross back wooden chair with ivory linen seat cushions were placed around each dinner table to provide a unified element to the look.

THE DANCE FLOOR WAS CREATED by covering the hotel pool at the base of the terraces with the Sea of Cortez as the backdrop for the entire setting. As many people love to watch, chat with friends or rest often between dance sets, we placed a stylish lounge area on one side of the dance floor using white sofas, ottomans and coffee tables. We also designed energetic lighting effects to light the dance floor all night, changing with the tempo and adjusting to the energy of the event as needed. The lighting was also designed to highlight the floral designs on the dinner tables, the bars and the lounge seating on the side of the dance floor.

DINNER SERVICE was offered the way the bride and groom most enjoy dining—family style with never-ending platters. The culinary team served tuna tartar, crab cakes and Caesar salad to start; and sliced filet, scallops and roasted chicken for entrees with beautiful steamed vegetables. The hotel staff was there with seconds and thirds to make sure no one was hungry or thirsty!

A PARTY JUST ISN’T A PARTY without the right entertainment! The bride and groom brought the celebrated Chicago band, Gentlemen of Leisure, to Mexico for the special event. Talk about sexy costume changes, high energy, powerful voices, and just amazing music… we can see why Molly and Alex loved them:

“When we originally planned to have our wedding at home in Chicago, our first decision was to hire Gentlemen of Leisure as they had performed for Alex’s brother’s wedding. We loved them and couldn’t wait for them to do ours!” says Molly. “We were so lucky they could come to Mexico with us—it was an amazing night and they rocked out the dance floor! We also had our two DJ friends–DJ Spider and DJ Chris Kennedy–play all weekend at the pool and at the after parties every night. It was so fun to have them there!”

FIREWORKS DURING THE HORA were a big, big, BIG highlight! The bride and groom wanted to have fireworks go off during the hora at a moment where everyone would be on the dance floor. The wedding planner timed them just perfectly too! Right as Molly and Alex went up in the chairs, the fireworks went off overhead and everyone went crazy! From there, the dance floor was packed and the energy was incredible!

THE WEDDING CAKE was the bride’s mother’s carrot cake recipe, which she has been making for 35 years, and ever since the bride was a little girl, she’s wanted it to be her wedding cake. Molly said:

“The pastry chef at Esperanza dedicated himself to perfecting my mom’s recipe. He even bought the exact same Cuisinart she has to make it the same way! We had individual cakes for each table, and one big one for the dessert table. He made it perfectly, and all of our guests were so excited to see my mom’s famous carrot cake!”

In addition to the carrot cake, there were French macarons, nostalgic candies, fresh fruit and many other delectable bites on the dessert table for the wedding guests to sample right up until the last moment of the party. Then it was all about the after party! Off went the long Vera Wang gown and on came the short, sexy Monique Lhuillier gown and the dancing continued long into the night.

WISE WORDS FROM THE BRIDE AND GROOM For us, and we can safely say, all of the event professionals that work with us, it is always wonderful to hear what the bride and groom loved about their wedding. So, when asked, Molly and Alex shared the following:

“Trust your vendors. We were lucky to have such an amazing team working on our wedding—lead by our wonderful wedding planner, Lauren. She helped ease our minds so we could truly relax and enjoy our wedding day. And also know—it’s not going to be perfect…I kept reminding myself to enjoy the day and not stress over little details. Let it happen, relax, be happy, be in love and enjoy.”